Vegetable curry

Being big fans of India and loving the food because a lot of every day dishes are vegan and it tastes great, this recipe has been made many times and has evolved over the years. In fact it is always changing. This is the latest incarnation and be creative to create your own version. As always I would recommend making it to the recipe and then making your own adjustments in the future. it can also be made with just potatoes and cauliflower to make aloo gobi.

6 generous tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
8 curry leaves
3 onions finely chopped
10 - 12 cloves of garlic crushed
2 inch piece of ginger chopped fine
1 - 2 fresh green chillies chopped fine
1 heaped teaspoon of ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
Half a teaspoon of chilli powder
Pinch of asafoetida powder, optional (my wife does not like it as you can easily let it overpower the whole dish as I did once so be cautious if you use it)
Half a teaspoon of salt
10 - 15 twists of freshly ground black pepper
About 10 baby potatoes halved, 2 carrots halved long ways and sliced, about 15 dwarf green beans cut into 1 inch pieces and half a cauliflower cut into medium florets.
A generous tablespoon of tomato paste or 3or 4 fresh tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the mustard seeds, as they begin to sputter and pop add cumin seeds and curry leaves which will sizzle so add the onion and stir straight away to prevent the spices from burning. I add a little salt at this point and add more later after tasting.
When the onion is going transparent and just golden put in the ginger, garlic and green chilli and stir.At this point fry until the onions are reduced and a rich golden brown colour
Next add the ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and asafoetida one at a time and stir each one in. Add black pepper. If using tomatoes instead of tomato paste have them ready chopped and add them now, stir and cook for a few minutes
Do not let the mixture burn as it will ruin the curry so add about half a cup of water and stir well.
Add potatoes and carrots and cook gently for 5 - 10 minutes stirring now and then and adding a little more water as necessary so it is a loose sauce. Add green beans and simmer for a couple more minutes then add cauliflower florets, check if it needs a little more water place lid on pan and simmer until cauliflower is almost cooked. Taste the sauce and add more salt if it needs it, add tomato paste if using and stir well and simmer until cauliflower is cooked. I often add a little more oil to make it a little richer but this is optional.
I usually make a dhal, see other posts for dhal recipes, and brown rice to go with this curry and of course fresh fried poppadoms' or chapatis frozen or home made(see recipe in blog), lime pickle, mango chutney and even a sprinkle of fresh chopped coriander leaves.
Experiment and enjoy.